Woman who stabbed her mother to death jailed for nine years for manslaughter
A young woman who repeatedly stabbed her alcoholic mother to death after being told to “get a life” has been jailed for nine years.
Hanaa Bennis, 22, cried as Old Bailey Judge Nigel Lickley sentenced her for manslaughter and added a further five years on extended licence on Thursday.
Bennis (pictured), who had admitted the offence, was suffering from the effects of “childhood trauma” when she attacked Aziza Bennis, 58, in her home in west London on August 15 2022.
Earlier that day, the two had exchanged a series of text messages, with the defendant saying: “You made me hate my life. U genuinely make me not want to live…”
Her mother replied: “Get a life Hanaa”, to which the defendant responded: “Burn in hell you sour bitch.”
Judge Lickley said: “You killed your mother in her own home. The ferocity of the attack proves your intent to kill.”
He said Bennis’s complex PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) was a “significant” contributor to the killing but this alone did not explain her behaviour.
He told Bennis: “You and your sister had a very troubled relationship with your mother from a young age.
“Physical and verbal abuse were features of your upbringing. The evidence demonstrates she was violent towards you.”
He told Bennis: “You made a very poor choice to visit your mother that day.
“You knew there was a significant history between you and your mother. You knew your mother’s personality. You had been drinking.”
He added that it was “not a planned attack”.
Judge Lickley said the prosecution had suggested Bennis was living a “somewhat chaotic lifestyle”.
“You were drinking excessively and taking cocaine. Your young daughter was not living with you,” he told her.
Earlier, prosecutor Ed Brown KC had told how Ms Bennis had suffered a “significant number of stab wounds” at her flat in Boddington Gardens in Ealing.
Police were called after screaming was heard from Ms Bennis’s flat and the sound of objects being thrown.
Comments were heard including “please stop hurting me” and “I’m sorry, I’m sorry”, the court was told.
Police forced their way into the home and found blood on the wall and floor.
The victim was found in the living room lying mortally wounded in a foetal position. A bloody knife was on a coffee table.
The defendant had a deep cut above her left eye and a puncture wound to her right thigh, said Mr Brown.
She was arrested and taken to hospital for treatment where she became violent and had to be restrained.
Later, a post-mortem examination found her mother had sustained stab wounds to the head, face and arms, with the fatal wound to the right thigh.
In a police interview, Bennis gave a history of depression and self-harm.
In a prepared statement, she said: “My mother attacked me with a knife. I sustained multiple injuries on my body from my mother’s actions. I acted in self-defence.”
Mr Brown said text messages exchanged between the two women earlier on August 15 were “illustrative” of their relationship for some time.
He said: “It is clear that the deceased was an alcoholic and the preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that the deceased was violent towards her children.”
He went on to say the defendant was “disruptive”, “rebellious”, “drank to excess” and “often went missing” – but added her behaviour was “in large part the result of the abuse by her mother”.
Mr Brown added that she had stopped taking anti-depressant medication some three months before.
Mitigating, Jeremy Dein KC told the court of a “shocking” history of abuse by Bennis’s mother.
The defendant described her childhood as “hell”. It involved beatings with sandals and belt buckles, black magic, threats to kill a pet hamster and being assaulted with chilli powder, Mr Dein said.
She had been on a child protection register then “bounced around” emergency residential accommodation, homelessness, living in care and later with her grandmother.
Having become pregnant at 18, she enrolled on an Open University course in 2021 but in February 2022 had a “meltdown” due to “unresolved issues from her past”, the court was told.
Mr Dein asserted: “There was an explosion of violence by Ms Bennis which was in effect a release of her frustration and trauma at what she had been subjected to throughout her life.”
The court was told Bennis had written a letter which expressed “remorse”, a “fierce determination to rehabilitate” and a desire to work helping addicts following her release.
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